For years now traffic awareness and the obedience of traffic rules has been a major problem in India. We either blame it on the leniency of the rules or escape by saying that the authorities are not doing their bit. Chandigarh Traffic Police has created a functional and innovative solution to the problem that is in sync with the social media connected community.

The Facebook page of Chandigarh Traffic Police works on community engagement through social media where a normal citizen can report any traffic violation by clicking a photograph and reporting the place, date and time. The page is in existence since June 2011. First up, the cover photo contains contact information – email addresses, toll free helpline and the link to its official website.

It actually happens to be the perfect solution of the long drawn process of the public blaming the authorities to them actually participating in rectifying the problem at hand. Several complaints were made by citizens on the page to which the Chandigarh Traffic Police replied with an official notification within an hour. That kind of efficiency needs to be applauded. Here are a few examples of the nature of complaints made:

The good thing about the page is that it is constantly updated. CTP engages with users by responding to all relevant queries posted on the Facebook page, within an hour of posting. It also follows-up in case, the same users post further queries.

The replies are also fast, to the point and helpful. The page was also seen as an active forum for the general public to get answers for their queries. These queries ranged from the perspective of prospective drivers to prospective traffic policemen.

Using the public as a medium to reach out to traffic violators is an excellent idea when it comes to creating traffic awareness and a sense of abiding rules. The idea of looking for a cop before thinking of over speeding vanishes in this respect, as the person in the car beside yours could very well report your offence. People on the page have also been seen reporting about other concerns such as those around parking and non-functional traffic lights. Prompt response and action were taken in these scenarios as well.

Want to take a look at the next generation social media traffic menace tracker? Visit the facebook page of Chandigarh Traffic Police here.

A big shout out to our reader @_harshdeep for bringing this to our notice.

A student of Journalism, Gurman loves everything about the web and new media. Happens to be a seasonal social media marketer and permanent social media maniac. Technologically obsessed at heart, anything related to gadgets, Android and keynotes is bound to give her an adrenaline rush. Tweets @GurmanBhatia.